Wire fastener



c. B. SCHWARZ 2,357,290

WIRE FASTENER Sept. 5, 1944.

Filed Oct. 7, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 CONRAD BSCHWA/VZ .-NVENTOR BY film? ATTORNEY Sept. 1944.

c. B. SCHWARZ WIRE FASTENER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 1941 CON/V0 B SCHWAIPZ INVENTQR ArrbR P 1944 c. B. SCHWARZ WIRE FASTENER Filed Oct. 7, ,1941 4 sheets -sheet 4 cow/mp; B sqfiw/wz v4 MENTOR Patented Sept. 5, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

WIRE FASTENER Conrad B. Schwarz, Louisiana, Mo. Application October '1, 1941, Serial No. 413,997

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a cover fastener and a process and apparatus for manufacturing same. More particularly, this invention relates to a new and improved wire fastener attached to the slatted cover of a bushel basket, or the like.

It is the usual practice to provide baskets of the bushel type with a pair of wire handles projecting upwardly above upper edge of the basket. Such baskets usually have a slatted cover with a top slat elongated so that its projecting ends engage in said basket handles. It has become the practice in packing these baskets to have them heaping full; hence, difficulty is encountered in fastening the cover to the basket so as to provide a satisfactory fit. These covers are under a bulging strain which brings about a need for additional fasteners besides the two furnished by the handle and the elongated slat. Such additional fasteners may be termed side fasteners and are usually used in pairs, one fastening to the basket and the other to the cover. Slatted covers of this type are usually assembled with the wire side fasteners affixed thereto so. that when the cover is ready for attaching to the basket this can be accomplished with little loss of time.

With the fasteners now in use, difficulty is encountered in attaching the side fasteners affixed to the basket to the side fasteners affixed to the cover. In order to overcome this difliculty, fasteners have been made which protrude over the edge of the cover. However, in view of the fact that the covers are shipped in bundles, such protruding fasteners becom bent out of shape by blows received during shipment and, as the wire fasteners must necessarily be made of a relatively stiff wire, the straightening of these fasteners requires considerable time as well as the use of mechanical instruments such as pliers. Moreover with side fasteners of this type considerable trouble has. beenexperienced in the fasteners splitting the slats of the cover, and the cover becoming loose after the basket is packed. It is evident that any improvement that may be made in these side fasteners, which will overcome all of these difiiculties, will provide a marked advance in the art.

This invention has as its objects to provide a new and improved wire fastener. Another object is to provide a new and. improved protruding wire side fastener to be attached to a slatted cover for bushel baskets, or the like. Still another object is to provide a protrudingwire fastener of stiff wire, which, when deformed, may be easily restored to its original position without having to resort to the use of plier and the like.

Another object is to provide a new and improved wire fastener for a slatted cover which in use will strengthen the cover and prevent the splitrim midway between the ends of the elongated top slat.

Figure 2 is an end View of a fragmentary'portion of said cover, facing said improved fastener, with a fragmentary portion of the basket and the fastener attached to said basket.

Figure 31s a vertical sectional view through the middle of the'fragmentary portion of, said cover and basket and the fasteners shown in Figure 2. The tongue member, that is the portion attached to the basket,'is shown in full lines in the inserted position and in dotted lines in th locking position.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top view of said cover showing the improved fastener in proper position in full lines and in the damaged position in dotted lines.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary top view 'showing the improved fastener in the damaged position.

Figure 6 is a vertical, cross sectional view through the middle of the fastener shown in Figure 5.

Figure]? is an enlarged, fragmentary top view of the fastener in proper position.

Figure 8 is a vertical, cross sectional view through the middle of the fastener shown in Figure 7.

- Figures 9, 10, and 11 are cross-sectional, perspective drawings of the parts of the machine fastener and of the cover during the various stages of attaching the fastener to the cover.

Figure-1.2 is a perspective view of the machine which forms the wire fastener into shape prior to attaching same to the cover, said parts being in their near relative position, and sepa-v rated sufficiently to show the shape of each part and to indicate its operation.

InFigures 1 to 8, inclusive, the reference numbers in each figure refer to the same parts of the structure. The reference number I indicates the slatted cover. The reference number 2 indicates the basket. The cover I is constructed of wooden slats 3 with an elongated top slat 4 having projecting ends for the purpose of engaging in the handles (not shown) of the basket 2. The cover has a marginal hoop 5 to which the slats are attached. Midway between the elongated ends and the slat 4 on the marginal hoop 5, the cover is provided with the new and improved protruding wire fastener 6. This fastener 6 has a protruding loop 1' which in its normal, usable position, protrudes over the edge of the cover. This loop may be squared as shown or may have rounding edges and need not be afiixed to the midway point, but may be affixed at any point along the marginal hoop 5 between the protruding ends of the slat 4. The fastener has two arms, 8, which extend in opposite directions from the end of the loop 1. The right arm (looking at Figur 4) may be at an angle between and 90 clockwise from a line parallel to and representing an extension of the right side of said loop and the left arm may be at an angle between 270 and 315 clockwise from a line parallel to and representing an extension of the left side of the loop 1. It is preferable that the arms 8 extend in lines approximating that of the hoop 5. As they are relatively straight, they are of such an angle to each other that they will be tangent to the circumference of a circle having a diameter not greater than hoop 5 and not less than onehalf the diameter of said hoop when the fastener is in its normal position. In Figure'4 the fastener 6 is shown in its normal position by the drawing in solid lines, and in sprung back position by the drawing in dotted lines. This sprung position results when the loop strikes an obstruction such as the floor, at the time the covers are being shipped, or when they are stacked on edge. Figures 5 and 6 also show, in an enlarged form, the fastener 6 in a sprung back position, whil Figures '7 and 8 show the fastener B in its normal position.

Referring to Figures '7 and 8, the arms 8 of the fastener 6 extend at least half-way across each of the two slats 3. If only one slat is used instead of two, they may extend practically across the entire slat. These extended arms, when the cover is in use, pull down across the top of the slat, preventing the slat from coming loose from the marginal hoop 5. As they pull across grain, they do not tend to split the slat. The fastener 6 with the extended arms 8 may be attached to the cover by any conventional method. Figure 8 shows a method found to be commercially practical. Here the wire extends downward'through the slat 3 on the inside of the hoop 5see 9- across the bottom of the hoop 5see l0and part way up the outside of the hoop 5see I l.

The combination of the protruding loop with the extended arms forms a fastener which, when deformed or sprung back as shown in Figure 5, may readily be pulled into the usable position of Figure '7 without the use of pliers or other me chanical instruments, regardless of how stiff the wire is. The wire from which these fasteners are to be made is preferably of a gauge within the range of M to l l andof the type known as bright stapling wire when the fasteners are to be used on slatted covers for bushel baskets, or the like.

Figures 2 and 3 show the fastener in use. The tongue-like fastener l2 attached to the basket 2 passes up through the loop I of the cover fastener 6 and is bent back as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 12, the parts in this drawing are in their near relative position, separated just sufficiently to show the shape of each part clearly. DL and DR fit against the ends of C and EL and ER slide down over the fins on DL and DR. The fins on D and the grooves in E are the same size as the size of wire used to make the fastener. W represents the wire feed into the machine from the right. A is the cutter which advances with BL and ER striking the wire first and cutting of the correct length to make one fastener. BL and BR carry the wire against C, causing the wire to bend first into the shape of LI. When BL and BR are fully advanced they force the Wire tightly against the shoulder on C, DL and DR forming the shape shown by L2. EL and ER then descend, bending the ends of the wire down over the edges BL and BR to form the final shape of the fastener, before being driven into the cover, as shown by L3. BL and BR then recede, leaving the fastener supported by C, DL, DR, EL, and ER. When BL and BR are in the clear the cover is brought up from below as is shown by Figures 9, l0, and 11.

In Figure 9, T represents the table or anvil of the machine into which is placed two inserts designated by I, one for each leg of the fastener, and through which two clinch pins, designated by P, can raise from below. The coverW is placed over the insert I by the operator of the machine. T raises, taking I and P in the same relative position with it, until it reaches the position shown in Figure 10. As is shown by drawings, the leg of the fastener L is driven through. the cover slat 3 past the hoop 5 and guided across below the hoop and into theslot above P. This is done by the shape of the groove in the fact of I. This groove is shown by the dotted line in Figure 9. When I and W strike C, a latch releases and T remains stationary while P continues to advance to position shown by Figure 11. This rolls the end of the loop tight around the bottom of the cover hoop 5. There is a groove in P, shown by dotted line, to allow the wire to pass when the pin slides up against the cover hoop 5. A small kick off is provided to kick the loop loose from the end of C and, when T retards, the cover is taken from the machine by the operator. In this manner the new and improved wire fastener is made and attached to the cover.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments shown and described.

I claim:

1. The combination of a container, a. cover comprising thin material secured to the upper edge of a marginal strip, and a wire fastener member on the container with a corresponding member on the cover for fastening the cover onto the container; the wire fastening member on the cover having an open loop protruding over the edge of said cover, said loop being held in position by two arms integral therewith extending in substantially opposite directions from the ends of said loop, each of said arms forming with its respective end of the loop a bendable angle, said angle determining the point of bend when said loop is pushed in over the top of the cover, said arms extending across the top of said cover and being attached to said cover at the ends opposite the ends attached to said loop whereby a pull downward on said loop, when the fastener is in use, will cause a sidewise as well as downward pull on said arms, thus drawing the cover together between the points of fastening as well as holding it tight to the container to which it is attached; said container having an elongated tongue-like loop of wire fastened to its side and having the loop extending upward above the top of the container, said cover being fastened to said container by passing said tongue-like loop up through said protruding loop of said cover fastener and then bending said tongue-like loop back so as to apply a downward pull on said loop of said cover fastener.

2. A container cover with a wire fastener attached thereto, said fastener having an open loop protruding over the edge of said cover, said loop being held in position by two arms integral therewith extending in substantially opposite directions from the ends of said loop, each of said arms forming with its respective end of the loop a bendable angle, said angle determining the point of bend when said loop is pushed in over the top of the cover, said arms extending across the top of said cover and being attached to said cover at the ends opposite the ends attached to said loop whereby a pull downward on said loop, when the fastener is in use, will cause asidewise as well as downward pull on said arms, thus drawing the cover together between the points of fastening as well as holding it tight to the container to which it is attached.

3. A wire fastener for a cover having an open loop for protruding over the edge of said cover and having Wire arms integral therewith extending in r substantially opposite directions from the ends of said loop with fastening means at the ends of said arms for attaching same to said cover, each of said arms forming with its respective end of the loop a bendable angle, said angle determining the point of bend when said loop is pushed in over the top of the cover.

CONRAD B. SCHWARZ. 

